The idea of the Guardian Fans' Network is simple: harness the talent and expertise of you, the reader - and, hopefully, also you the writer, photographer, pundit and, in some cases, self-publisher - to help create a brilliant World Cup site.

This is a truly collaborative project between guardian.co.uk and our readers. You will be able to immediately rate players after every match - ratings that won't just go online but into the next day's Guardian and Observer newspapers. We will publish the best pictures from fans around the world. You will also be able to see graphically, via a nifty interactive word map, how each game is represented live on Twitter. And there will be the opportunity to pitch for paid blogposts too.

The Fans' Network graphical representation. Photograph: Guardian

We are not just opening the door; we are putting the kettle on and inviting you in.

The core of the Fans' Network consists of a global team of some 125 dedicated supporters, bloggers and the odd journalist, who we began recruiting last November ahead of the World Cup draw. Some of these fans have already appeared on the Observer's pages, giving their verdict on how their country will perform; another appeared on our World Cup daily podcast. These fans will tweet regularly throughout the tournament; their analysis - along, no doubt, with the odd beery moment of exuberance - adding even greater colour, depth and richness to our pages.

These members have been given direct access to guardian.co.uk; in effect they are self-publishing. In return for their expertise we are promoting their blogs, Twitter pages and giving them the standard blogpost freelance rate if their work is published on our sportblog.

If you're new to the Guardian Fans' Network, click here to access the homepage. You will see a global map which updates in real time with the latest tweets. Click on the pulsing icons for the latest updates, or on the directory on the right-hand side for more information about our members.

Once the tournament starts, this page will also be the hub for the following:

• Our player ratings tool. You will be able to rate every player in a match and see immediately how others have voted. As the tournament progresses, we'll extract the ratings data and make it available to anyone who wants to create a telling mash-up or visualisation.

• A daily, paid-for, blogpost from our readers. These are likely to be on anything from the mood in a country after a shock result to a tactics-soaked analysis piece. Most of these are likely to be written by our recruited team of fans; however we are opening the process to everyone. Simply pitch your idea, with a paragraph detailing what your piece will involve, your telephone number and a link to your blog, to worldcup2010@guardian.co.uk. Please put 'Fans' Network blog pitch' in the subject heading. If selected you will be paid our standard blogpost fee. Please don't feel too dispirited if we don't pick you; we are expecting plenty of pitches to come thundering in every day.

• Vote in our daily polls.

• Send pictures of how the World Cup is being celebrated where you are via this Flickr group. We plan to regularly feature a selection of the best on guardian.co.uk/fansnetwork or in our newspapers, but copyright will remain with you at all times, and you will be credited. By posting your picture in the group, you agree to let this happen.

You can also get involved in the following ways:

• Sending your emails on each game to our minute-by-minute match reports

• Hopefully this will be enough to pique your interest; to vote, rant, reason and roll along with what we publish in the next few weeks. Certainly guardian.co.uk/worldcup2010 will be a better site for it.